On October 24, the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad (PFARS) came to Herrontown Woods to conduct an exercise in backwoods rescue. All of this came about through the initiative of Friends of Herrontown Woods board member Inge Regan, who is an emergency room doctor.
Sunday, December 20, 2020
A Practice Rescue by Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad
Friday, December 18, 2020
Trail Work in Herrontown Woods in 2020
Since then, with help from a crew contracted by Princeton, FOHW has been battling a massive clone of wisteria that had already overwhelmed and downed several trees. But nothing compares to this year's transformation of the forest by Kurt Tazelaar, who built the trail using large stepping stones scavenged from the building site, and cut down masses of invasive shrubs that were clogging the understory and blocking views of the scenic valley. The trail includes several carefully crafted stream crossings and passes by some impressive trees that have thrived on the slopes overlooking the stream.
The trail can be accessed by heading down the red trail from the parking lot, then taking a left just before or after reaching the stream.
Other projects Kurt undertook in this year were scenic bypasses of two badly eroded sections of the red trail, and some clearing of invasive shrubs near the cliff. After nearly a year fighting an illness, Kurt was able to return and has again made a big difference in Herrontown Woods this year.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
"A Minute of Calm" Video Series
Sunday, November 29, 2020
Pigs Fly at Herrontown Woods
and its mahogany benches
that give comfort and a view up and out and all about.
And the gazebo's mahogany floor?
To Herrontown Woods they're going, to its Princeton Botanical Art Garden, to offer rest and social space, and frame views of native plants along winding pathways.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
A Botanical Art Garden for Princeton
One volunter project that has taken a leap forward during the pandemic is the Princeton Botanical Art Garden next to the parking lot for Herrontown Woods. Families seeking safe diversions and learning opportunities are discovering the garden and the deep woods beyond, which together serve as an introduction to Princeton's flora.
Now in its third year, the garden's collection of more than 100 native species continues to gain in signage and diversity.Whimsical, rock-lined trails and craftings of wood delight the kids while the parents check out what's in bloom.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Herrontown Woods Gets a Bike Rack, and a Boat
Take a close look at the photo and you'll see a curious object just beyond the bike rack.
But FOHW board member Peter Thompson had the idea for another odyssey for the vessel, to Herrontown Woods. The school principal and english teacher got on board, so to speak, the students had long since abandoned their remarkable creation, and so we assembled a hearty crew of Kurt, Andrew and Steve to set sail eastward to Herrontown Woods' botanical garden, where the boat will either grow wildflowers or grow imaginations.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Veblen's Legacy and FOHW's Work Featured in Princeton Magazine
Don Gilpin's article entitled The Extraordinary Legacy of Oswald Veblen, in the summer edition of Princeton Magazine, tells the story of Oswald Veblen in this 140th year since he was born. The article also gives prominent mention of our nonprofit's efforts to restore the gifts the Veblens left to the public: Herrontown Woods and the Veblen House and Cottage.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
FOHW Celebrates the Veblens' Birthdays With Jazz and Candlelight
On a lovely summer evening, the Friends of Herrontown Woods celebrated the birthdays of Elizabeth and Oswald Veblen, who donated the nature preserve and their homes more than 60 years ago. Research revealed that their birthdays are two days apart, on the 22nd and 24th of June. For Oswald it was his 140th, his legacy still going strong.
The event was the brainchild of board member Inge Regan, an ER doctor who labored long to come up with protocols that would keep everyone socially distanced.
A pandemic causes us to behave more like trees, keeping our distance one from another, though of course couples were still able to cluster.
On the edge of the celebration was the Sustainable Jazz duo, performing its original music for the first time since COVID changed everything. Herrontown friend Perry provided a battery to power Phil Orr's piano, and FOHW president Steve Hiltner explored the enhancing acoustical effects of a reverberant forest on his saxophone and clarinet. Since the Veblen House can't be used yet, they were termed the "Near the house band."
As the evening progressed, candlelight merged with the fireflies to create a magical effect, with the Veblen House playing for now the role of landmark to loosely congregate next to. Happy birthday, and thank you, to Elizabeth and Oswald Veblen!
House Wren Votes Kiosk #1 Bird Habitat
We have a kiosk at the Herrontown Woods parking lot, built by the county many years ago in such a sturdy fashion that it will surely rival the boulders up on the ridge in longevity.
The kiosk was for a long time, like Herrontown Woods, a blank slate, but we have finally populated it with maps and photos and information, and realized some of its possibilities.
No matter how solidly built, the kiosk still has a soft spot for nature, as we discovered not long ago when we stood near the kiosk long enough to notice a house wren's comings and goings. The reason for its visits became clear only when the young chattered loud enough to hear, and a closer look at the rafters revealed
a hole in the hollow metal beam that fit the house wren's needs.
The reason for lingering around the kiosk long enough to notice the nest was the installation of a gutter to direct runoff from the kiosk into a cistern. There have been long dry spells this summer, necessitating bringing gallon jugs of water from home to water new plantings at the botanical garden next to the parking lot. Half the kiosk's small roof is more than enough to fill the cistern during a good rain.
The cistern was donated by board member Peter Thompson. The gutter and a small section of hose needed to repair the cistern were found on the curb, and the wood to elevate the cistern is rot-resistant black locust from a tree that fell in a neighbor's yard. Serendipity serves both people and birds.
Photo below: A scene in the Herrontown Woods botanical garden, with beebalm and wild senna, the "walking tree", and a yurt that some highschool students built earlier this summer.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Celebrating the Giving of Nature and People on the 50th Earthday
From this vernal pool, close by Herrontown Road, arises the stream that flows through Herrontown Woods. It is the cleanest tributary of Harry's Brook, fed by the rainwater of eastern Princeton on its journey to Carnegie Lake. Herrontown Woods is "lucky with the water." Even as we play the role of beasts of burden, hauling stepping stones up to muddy sections of trails deep in the preserve, there's a feeling of wealth as the slopes spawn rivulets that merge and nurture the life all around them.
There is an artistry and generosity too in rocks and wood, each boulder distinctively patterned with moss and lichen, and trees deepening in distinction with age.
There is artistry too in the volunteers who give so freely of their time in this timeless place. So many to thank, from our board members to Kurt who has volunteered from the beginning.
More recently, Victorino has brought his skills and vision to our evolving botanical garden next to the main parking lot. Crafting structures out of wood already onsite, he's constructing a welcoming arch,
and has completed a boardwalk
that kids follow on its whimsically meanderings towards a vernal pool inhabited this time of year by tadpoles.
Andrew has also been applying his artistry, adding trails and crafting borders and benches.
A volunteer who lives nearby, Rachelle, is using a fallen pine tree's massive rootball as a backdrop for a meditation garden.
During recent weekends, volunteers have maintained social distancing while cutting invasive shrubs and pulling the weedy garlic mustard from the grounds of Veblen House. The work feels all the more satisfying in this constrained but more peaceful time.
Herrontown Woods was born, first of the generosity of nature and then of the generosity of Oswald and Elizabeth Veblen, who brought together and then donated Princeton's and Mercer County's first nature preserve back in 1957, thirteen years before the first Earthday. Those are the wellsprings of generosity that we tap into and add to, feed and are fed by, in a very giving place perched high on the ridge.